Klarinet Archive - Posting 001287.txt from 1998/05

From: Rodger Graham-Wilson <rgwilson@-----.au>
Subj: Re: [kl] Neighbor Problems.
Date: Tue, 26 May 1998 19:37:55 -0400

On 26th May 1998 Chris Hoffman wrote:
>I live in a condo that is a fourplex. Even with double walls between the
>units, sound still carries. I no longer can practice at any given hour, day
>or night. But I have a neighbor who is extremely ignorant of the fact that
>when he blares his stereo he bothers everyone in the condos. Yesterday, for
>example, it blared from noon to midnight. I have no idea how to handle him.
>I thought he was retalliating against my practicing, but I have reasonable
>hours, and do not blast on my piano, clarinet, or trumpet like he does on his
>stereo. We've already confronted him once, and he said he would alter his
>music, but nothing has happened. What should my family do? If we talk to the
>landlord, we are afraid the neighbor will cmplain about my music, and I am
>hardly distracting. In fact, other neighbors like when we have the windows
>open so they can hear my music. Any suggestions on how to handle this
>problem? Thanks!
>Chris Hoffman

Chris,

I do not know whether you are a student or a professional, but I do know
that you have a right to practise. You are obvoisly a person who wants to
be at their peak playing condition at all times. In the Australian state
of Queensland, we have the Rental Tenency Authority who give advice in
situations like yours. I have no knowledge of U.S. law or really Australian
law for that fact, but I feel that if you are hesitant about talking to the
landlord about your situation, does the U.S. have anything like this
authority who you can talk to. Otherwise your only course of action would
be to talk to the landlord, confidentially. If he/she is a reasonable
person, they should understand your situation and be able to either give
advice or take some kind of action. Hopefully the action they take will
not be detrimental.

I used to live in a similar situation on the Gold Coast, four two bedroom
townhouses in a row. I introduced myself to each neighbour living there. I
told them who I was and what I did and that I would be practising, but
keeping it to reasonable hours. This couse of action at the beginning
helped me overcome the feeling of,"Can I practise now??" I don't know what
the situation was when you first moved their or when your neighbour first
moved there, but I hope this is of some kind of help

Rodger Graham-Wilson.

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